


Le Barbier de Séville

by jellyfitzjelly



Series: Blessed in motherly ways [2]
Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, Happy AU, M/M, Shaving, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 11:40:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30004305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyfitzjelly/pseuds/jellyfitzjelly
Summary: It was one of their rituals. Each morning Tom shaved Edward.
Relationships: Thomas Jopson/Edward Little
Series: Blessed in motherly ways [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202099
Kudos: 16





	Le Barbier de Séville

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/jellyfitzjelly) and [Tumblr](https://jellyfitzjelly.tumblr.com/) under the same username. Come say hi!

It was one of their rituals. Each morning Tom shaved Edward. He had been embarrassed by the demand at first: they were not on the _Terror_ anymore. He had no wish to reproduce the power imbalance their difference in rank had inevitably created in the expedition (even after Tom got promoted, he could not help but have a steward’s reflexes). His dear Tom was his equal, his partner, his friend. His lover had been quick to reassure him. He had always found his shaving duties a privileged moment of calm, where he had to focus only on the skin under the razor and could chat to his leisure (for Crozier, while not one for small talk in the morning, had never minded his idle chat). He had always been struck by the intimacy of such a mundane act. It requested an implicit trust between the officer and his steward.

A trust Edward had shown each morning ever since they had bought their cottage and had settled down. After they brought the little ones home, their small habit became a privileged moment between them. They had each other’s undivided attention for half an hour before the children got up. And like every morning, the shaving begun with a peppering of kisses while Edward seated himself near the window and Thomas prepared the razor and the shaving cream. As often, they did not speak. They simply basked in each other’s presence. Edward loved to close his eyes, often still groggy with sleep, and enjoy Thomas’ touch on his face and his smell wrapped around him like a comfortable cloak in winter. His Tom softly hummed some tune, focused on his work. He bend down to press a kiss on the side of Edward’s nose. His lover chuckled. His smile widened when another passage of the razor was followed by a kiss on the gap between his eyebrows. Then another was pressed on the top of his cheek, followed by one on the tip of his nose. Before long, there was more kissing than shaving which Edward did not mind at all. He tried to catch Tom’s lips but the man playfully avoided his mouth. Soon, they were both giggling like schoolboys as Edward chased his lips.

They were startled by the creaking of the door (Edward had been convinced by Tom not to oil the doors too much as a way to get a warning from little peepers). Tom straightened up stiffly before turning to see Willy looking at them wide-eyed with fascination, still suckling his thumb.

“Willy! What are you doing up, sweetheart?” Tom said as he rushed to the little boy, embarrassed.

While he ushered the child back into his room, Edward washed his face and put on his aftershave. Tom came back with an apologetic smile.

“The woes of being parents, I suppose,” Edward sighed as he beckoned his lover to his side.

Tom came to wrap his arms around his shoulders and nuzzle his whiskers.

“A small price to pay for a family,” he said tenderly.

“A very small one indeed,” Edward agreed with a grin, and finally kissed those much sought after lips.


End file.
